While On Electronic Monitoring, Man Dealt Drugs To Cops: Police

EVANSTON, IL — An Evanston man repeatedly sold marijuana to undercover cops while on electronic monitoring following a gun charge earlier this year, according to police. When Evanston police got a warrant to search his home, they also found a bulletproof vest and a rifle magazine containing 14 rounds of ammunition in addition to cannabis.

Devonte C. Moret, 20, of the 200 block of Richmond Avenue in Evanston, was arrested around 6 p.m. on Aug. 30 after the special operations group of the Evanston Police Department executed a search warrant at his home, police said. He was charged with two counts of felony cannabis delivery and one count of misdemeanor possession of ammunition without a FOID card.

Moret had been placed on electronic monitoring as a condition of his bail after he was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a weapon and possession of marijuana, an unlicensed firearm and ammunition earlier this year. He took off running from a traffic stop as a passenger when police found a loaded gun, police said at the time.

While he was out on bail, the Evanston Police Department Neighborhood Enforcement Team carried out a series of undercover marijuana buys from him in July and August, prosecutors said. The purchases ranged between 6.7 grams and 19.2 grams of cannabis and all took place in an alley behind the 200 block of Hartrey Avenue, immediately west of Moret's home.

Police said they found 145 grams of cannabis and a scale at Moret's home during their Aug. 30 search. He was not charged in connection with the bulletproof vest.

Moret, who turned 20 last month, had been in contact with social service providers and "almost had a job that was lined up" at the time of his arrest, according to his attorney at his Aug. 31 bond hearing, who said Moret was an Evanston Township High School graduate.

The earlier bond was revoked, and Moret was also ordered held at Cook County Jail in lieu of 10 percent of a pair of $20,000 bonds for the charges of dealing cannabis. The more serious of the marijuana distribution charges he faces carries a sentence of between two and five years in prison. He is due back in court Sept. 14 in Skokie.

Earlier: Loaded Gun Leads To Felony Charge For Evanston Teen »